Wilson letter: Climate change

NASA estimates that 97 percent of the world’s climate scientists agree that climate change is real and this latest warming event is primarily man-caused. One hundred ninety five world countries just signed an agreement to limit greenhouse gases. The U.S. military and every major corporation in America, including the oil companies, are planning and preparing for climate change, but many of our Idaho legislators don’t believe it. Why? Rep. Dell Raybould relies on that eminent climate scientist Rush Limbaugh for his information. Rep. Thomas Loertscher relies on respected scientific journals like a tabloid newspaper and the far right Heartland Institute. It reminds me of the ’60s and ’70s when tobacco companies trotted out doctors to tell us smoking was not harmful to our health. We all know how that turned out. You can find (or buy) pretty much any “expert” opinion you want, but when the evidence contrary to your belief is so substantial and you still refuse to even consider the possibility you might be wrong, what does that say? I think it says “rigid ideologue” who does not want to be bothered by real science or real facts. We’ll all end up paying for their rigid ideology.

This story was originally published January 10, 2016 at 11:22 PM with the headline "Wilson letter: Climate change."